iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Allen Varney

RPG Creators Relief Fund @rcrfcharity.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The Roleplaying Game Creators Relief Fund (RCRF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization founded to provide financial assistance to ttrpg creators suffering hardship due to catastrophic situations. And now donations to the RCRF are as easy as our new QR code!

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 28/08/2026

Adventurers Club #23 (Winter 1994), the Hero Games magazine for the Champions #TTRPG, published my article "Perklets," with a list of tiny ways to improve your RPG characters.

Perklets, by Allen Varney, from Adventurers Club issue 23 (Hero Games, Winter 1994).
Chewing gum? Obnoxiously cute toys? No, “perklets” are the tiny ways life goes well for your character. Too rare or trivial to cost whole character points, these little benefits pioneer a great new design concept: decimal points!

Cost (points)

0.1: Permission to Photocopy

0.2: Can Lift One Eyebrow Like Mr. Spock

0.2: Easily Assumes Full Lotus Position

0.2: Remembers Dreams

0.2: Wiggles Ears, Curls Tongue Into Tube, Can Bend Thumb Back Until It Touches Wrist, etc.

0.3: Immunity to Jury Duty

0.3: Member, International Youth Hostels

0.3: Fruit-of-the-Month Club

0.4: Has Correct Change

04 each: Usually Picks Fastest Line (per Environment: Supermarket, Bank, Airport, Other)

0.4 each: Turns Almost Exactly to Page Needed on First Try (half-phase action, per Environment: Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Phone Book, Spellbook)

0.5: On Really Neat Mailing Lists

0.5: Not on Annoying Mailing Lists

0.6 each: Free Pass (per Environment: Disneyland, Euro Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Walt Disney World)

0.7: Can Fix Parking Tickets

0.7: Tans Without Peeling

0.8: Related to Airline Employee, Flies Cheaply

0.9: Knows Real Words to "Louie, Louie"

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 26/08/2026

"The Man Who Saw Humanity From Two Billion Years Away" - why yes, it IS about Olaf Stapledon (Matthew De Abaitua, The MIT Press Reader): thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-man-who-...

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

The Man Who Saw Humanity From Two Billion Years Away - The MIT Press Reader

Olaf Stapledon published his first epic cosmic novel, “Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future,”...

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 23/08/2026

"Things I'd like to see in RPG PDFs" (Reddit r/rpg) - RGB images, hyperlinks, print-friendly backgrounds, metadata, proper page numbering, ePub and Markdown versions: www.reddit.com/r/rpg/commen...

reddit.com

From the rpg community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the rpg community

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 05/08/2026

Accounting firms conduct audits of enterprise clients using System and Organization Controls (SOC) that validate a firm's internal controls over information systems. An ex-Deloitte CPA made an AI version of the "Chiaro methodology" firms use to prepare for an audit: github.com/Chiaro-HQ/me...

github.com

GitHub - Chiaro-HQ/methodology: The complete Chiaro methodology for SOC 2 readiness and audit. Controls, criteria, evidence standards, and every judgment call, published so you can check it.

The complete Chiaro methodology for SOC 2 readiness and audit. Controls, criteria, evidence standards, and every judgment call, published so you can check it. - Chiaro-HQ/methodology

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 09/07/2026

The long-running website Damn Interesting is running a fundraiser to battle the headwinds of modern slopstorms: www.damninteresting.com/a-possible-f...

damninteresting.com

Damn Interesting: A Possible Future

An attempt to secure the future of the site, with an unfortunate quantity of moist metaphors.

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Reposted by Allen Varney

New Books at Project Gutenberg @new.gutenberg.org · 02/07/2026

New #ebook at Project Gutenberg: Last and first men by Olaf Stapledon www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79003

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Reposted by Allen Varney

Kate North @curatorkate.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Burghley House has a completely mind-blowing array of 17th century paintings across its ceilings and walls… trompe l’oeil giving the illusion of the architectural details being real stone and marble and that figures are coming out of the walls 😮🤩 Here’s a photo thread of some of the rooms…

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 10/05/2026

Fred Astaire was born on this date in 1899. From "Holiday Inn" (1942), Astaire's brilliantly percussive tap routine to Irving Berlin's "Let's Say It With Firecrackers/Song of Freedom." Bob Fosse said Astaire in this number was "an incredible drummer": www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lxl...

youtube.com

Fred Astaire "Say It With Firecrackers"

YouTube video by Julia Scrive-Loyer

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 01/05/2026

"The Lusty Month of May" (Lerner/Loewe), Camelot (1961) Act 1 Scene 5, sung with incomparable clarity and effervescence by Julie Andrews: youtu.be/anqaUhjo1eg

youtu.be

Camelot, Act 1 Scene 5 ("The Lusty Month of May", 1960) - Julie Andrews, Richard Burton

YouTube video by The Julie Andrews Archive

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 19/04/2026

Col. Lou Zocchi at a 2008 convention talking for 20 minutes straight about why his dice are better dice: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ-A...

youtube.com

GameScience video 2008 II

YouTube video by James Means

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 17/04/2026

It came to pass in the third quarter of the fiscal year that the Federal Reserve Board did raise the rediscount rate and money was tight in the land.

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 12/03/2026

Every ambitious composer of film soundtracks should score this amazing hare-and-hounds chase (via @kottke.org): www.youtube.com/watch?v=O60x...

youtube.com

A miraculous escape 🐰 🐶 #wildlife #Hare #hound

YouTube video by 家有小猫

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 08/03/2026

Yesterday's Gridogram puzzle (Sat 07 March) used my suggestion, "I'm just a mean green mother from outer space, and I'm bad." Here is the 1986 source of that quotation, "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986) in its Director's Cut version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdz1...

youtube.com

Little Shop Of Horrors Mean Green Mother From Outer Space Director’s Cut Version

YouTube video by Augie

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 26/02/2026

Paramount CEO David Ellison has a generic face, a template face. Describe him to a police sketch artist - "wide face, strong jaw, high forehead, thick lips" - and ten seconds after the sketch artist starts roughing in the outline, you'd say "That's him." www.imdb.com/name/nm19111...

imdb.com

David Ellison

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 09/02/2026

In 1941 Irving Berlin wrote a protest song against Hitler, "When that Man is Dead and Gone," covered nicely in 2017 by Lizzy & the Triggermen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDkh...

youtube.com

When that Man is Dead and Gone (1941) - Protest song against Hitler (Live Take)

YouTube video by Lizzy & the Triggermen

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 05/02/2026

Why do we see this exact same story play out repeatedly? Do companies have no memory? Is learning impossible?

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Reposted by Allen Varney

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

The future of work is changing. And we have to evolve with it or fall behind. That's why we're proud to introduce: Serfdom dot AI. Our platform allows SERFs (solo entrepreneur revenue facilitators) to rent affordable housing that they can subsidize by picking up work with Baron, our AI assistant

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 15/01/2026

"If the Algorithm Was a Person" (Foil Arms and Hog): youtu.be/tKGE6UzwdXc?...

youtu.be

If the Algorithm was a Person

YouTube video by Foil Arms and Hog

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 13/01/2026

"Dentologia: A Poem on the Diseases of the Teeth" in five cantos by Solyman Brown, A.M., with notes practical, historical, illustrative, and explanatory by Eleazar Parmly, Dentist (1840): www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77677

gutenberg.org

Dentologia : A poem on the diseases of the teeth, and their proper remedies

Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 13/01/2026

Stories by O. Henry's Ghost (1918): Albert Houghton Pratt (1878-1941), rare book curator at the Library of Congress, wrote a book of stories as by O. Henry, dictated via Ouija board: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77686

gutenberg.org

My tussle with the devil : And other stories by O. Henry's Ghost

Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.

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Reposted by Allen Varney

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 08/01/2026

This is coming from a place of love and support, but… It’s ‘shoo-in,’ not ‘shoe-in.’ It’s ‘case in point,’ not ‘case and point.’ It’s ‘moot point,’ not ‘mute point.’ It’s ‘hunger pangs,’ not ‘hunger pains.’ It’s ‘jibe with,' not 'jive with.'

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 07/01/2026

Auld English - Founts thatte fimulate the experience of reading in olden days, bye diverfe means (ie, contextual alternates): www.auldenglish.com

auldenglish.com

Auld English fonts: A Sea-Change in the Look of Language by Nick Shinn

Fonts that simulate the experience of reading in olden days, by diverse means.

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 01/01/2026

2025: The Bundle of Holding year in review (Beyond the Bundle blog): beyondthebundle.com/2026-01-01/2...

beyondthebundle.com

2025: The Bundle year in review – Beyond the Bundle

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 28/12/2025

#Classical ringtones - phone tunes arranged in convincing pastiches of Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, & Ravel by Josep Castanyer Alonso: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnmB...

youtube.com

6 Famous Ringtones, but in the Style of 6 Classical Composers 📞

YouTube video by Josep Castanyer Alonso

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 25/12/2025

I like hearing music on Christmas Day so I can see the little Santa hat on the VLC Media Player icon.

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 19/12/2025

Ravel's Bolero performed on nine homemade 8-bit chiptune instruments (Linus Akesson): linusakesson.net/music/bolero...

linusakesson.net

Boléro

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 19/12/2025

1. Life is unfair, but you really don't want it to be "fair." 2. You can get pretty far in life just by showing up. 3. A lot of success just takes time. 4. Some big advantages come from negative personality traits. 5. You don't know what you want until you get it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-iL...

youtube.com

5 Harsh Truths About Success from an Only Moderately Successful Person

YouTube video by JasonKPargin

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 01/12/2025

Works that will enter public domain in 2026 (Wiki): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in...

en.wikipedia.org

2026 in public domain - Wikipedia

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 28/11/2025

Alan Moore profile (Metropolitan Review, 26 Nov 2025 - 11,500 words): www.metropolitanreview.org/p/giant-of-t...

metropolitanreview.org

Giant of the Attic

On the Majesty of Alan Moore

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 18/11/2025

Paraphrases (1887): Set of 40 variations on "Chopsticks" by four Russian composers for piano four hands, where a virtuoso is playing alongside a small child. Compositions by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov, & Cui, plus a prelude by Franz Liszt (!): www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x--...

youtube.com

Paraphrases: 24 variations and 16 small pieces on a simple theme ("Tati- Tati" or "Chopsticks")

YouTube video by Julia Bielajewa

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 12/11/2025

Never heard anything like Verse 2 of OJ the Alien's 2023 space-gangsta-rap-comedy track "Wiseguys on Mars": www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgIA...

youtube.com

OJ The Alien (Feat. Dr. Dazzle) - Wiseguys On Mars

YouTube video by Patrick’s Crazy Channel

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 18/10/2025

"How I View the US After 13 Years Living in Europe" (Evan Edinger, 06 Oct 2025): www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Qv... /1.7M views, 13.6K comments, all supportive

youtube.com

How I View the US After 13 Years Living in Europe

YouTube video by Evan Edinger

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 01/10/2025

"It feels incredible to return to [Montreal] where my career began in 1999, back when the gaming industry was just taking off.” Ah yes, that primordial epoch of 1999, the misty glimmering dawn of computer games. (Variety): variety.com/2025/gaming/...

variety.com

Magic: The Gathering Maker Wizards of the Coast Opens New Game Studio in Montreal

Wizards of the Coast has opened its new game development hub in Montréal, Canada, operating as Wizards of the Coast Studios Inc.

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 26/09/2025

The supermarket music system started playing "Never Gonna Give You Up," and reflexively I looked around, checking to see if I'd been pranked into visiting the wrong store.

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 22/09/2025

On Tues 23 Sept I'm doing a Reddit r/rpg AMA about my 28-year freelance career, the Bundle of Holding, and my new D&D sourcebook "Manse Magnificent": www.reddit.com/r/rpg/commen...

reddit.com

From the rpg community on Reddit: Allen Varney (Bundle of Holding, Paranoia XP, Manse Magnificent) - AMA 23 Sept 2025

Explore this post and more from the rpg community

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Allen Varney @bundleofholding.com · 22/08/2025

Mark Rein-Hagen did well enough at White Wolf to buy a painted-lady landmark house in San Francisco. Of course he was both designer and publisher. Can't think of any RPG just-designers who made serious bank off a game published by others.

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